Family Of Killers
by The Fire In Which We Burn
Summary: What happens when your vampire boyfriend tries to kill you and the one to save you is the one with the weakest bloodlust? Tables are turned, plans unfolded, loves lost and found
1. The Birthday

**Family Of Killers**

**Chapter 1 - The Birthday**

It was the Cullen's fault. Everything was their fault. It was Edward's own fault that he, literally, lost his head for the first time in his life. They tried to kill my girl, may they rot in hell for eternity. The demon they released that day is their problem; god help anyone who comes across me, for I am no longer Jasper Hale, the pussy, the one who treads carefully for fear of offence. I am not the Major either, the ruthless killer, the machine. I am the best of both. I am now and forever shall be, the Major Jasper Whitlock.

**JASPER'S POV**

We all chuckled as we heard Emmett's booming laughter from Bella's truck as he fitted the new radio. Everyone was ecstatic that she was gratefully receiving her birthday presents without a fuss. After all Alice had spent forever looking for the right items to say were from each of us.

"Open mine and Edward's next." That was my wife, trying to rush through the giving of gifts so that Bella couldn't return them.

Something was bothering me though, I could feel another's bloodlust flaring. It was Edward's. That confused me, he had hunted today. I moved forwards just in case something were to happen, like Edward's control going up in smoke.

Alice passed the small square present to her best friend, glaring at her when she made a fuss. She froze for a second, reading into the future and smiled when she saw the outcome.

Bella sighed, "Give it to me."

She slipped her finger under the delicate silver wrapping paper.

I could see the fear in her eyes as the paper tore through her delicate pale skin.

I cursed Alice for deciding that looks were better than practicality, I cursed her for making me help out with the exorbitant decorating for Bella's unwanted birthday party. I was thirsty and I knew the outcome of this situation would not be pretty and for the first time in my life with the Cullen's I cursed Alice's apparent lack of foresight.

I stepped forward, my eyes turning black as I breathed in the exotic smell of virgin blood. Edward crouched in front of my prey and growled loudly, trying to protect the love of his undead life. 'Pitiful' I thought, the prudish little boy was growing backbone and beginning to learn the ways of the true vampire, but it was way too late for him. I could tear his body apart in seconds, even with him reading my mind.

But then his emotions blasted through my red haze; thirst, possessiveness not protectiveness, anger; knocked me out of my stupor. I crouched once again, this time lower, as my objectives had changed. My eyes had returned to their normal butterscotch state. This time I was going to save Isabella Swan, not drain her dry.

"NO JASPER." My wife yelled, it seemed she had had a vision now, but why was she telling me to leave her best friend to the devices of her deranged boyfriend?

I advanced, for the first time in my pitiful existence, ignoring Alice's requests. As I got closer Edward became more edgy, as he came to realise his meal was in danger. I could feel Emmett charging towards me to drag me away from Bella and her endangered life, but the decades of violence and missions gave me the ability to quickly manoeuvre out of my brother's grasping hands. My movement threw him off of balance and he crashed to the floor, I planted one foot on Emmett's back and propelled myself into the air in my bastard brother's direction. As I flew towards the couple, Edward shoved innocent Bella backwards into the crockery table. Crimson liquid flowed from her crumpled body as the splintered shards of glass and bone china tore through her pale skin, ripping veins and arteries alike.

The strength of the anger I felt then, I had last felt in the darkest time of my life, my demon was ready to be let loose. The Major was rattling the bars of his cage so hard that cracks were forming, and his essence was leaking out, turning my golden eyes black,, but this time not through hunger, but through revenge.

The room shuddered as my being collided with my brother's snarling form. I was distracted, trying to get past the child, to get to the one the Major recognised as an equal, the one human girl he didn't want to fuck then drain dry.

The years of military training flew out of the window when her beautiful melted chocolate eyes met mine. The silent defiance, annoyance and understanding were enough to make me stop for a second. Who was she defying? Whom was she pissed off with? Was she the only person in the room who understood that I was trying to save her from her savage boyfriend?

But before I could so much a lay a finger on my brother, Emmett had grabbed hold of my waist pulling me down to the floor, Rose had her arms around my chest pinning mine to my side. I still struggled against them as I saw the delighted smile on Edward's face and the fear in Bella's eyes. My 'twin' pressed her teeth against my throat and I stilled understanding that my life was in jeopardy. If you learn one thing whilst in the Southern Wars it's to follow the wishes of whoever is attached to your neck, if you value your life and if not, you wouldn't live long enough to have time to regret your ignorance.

I realised in that moment, that they assumed I was after Bella's blood, I hadn't slipped for over fifty years and they still believed me to be the weakest link. They didn't think I'd be capable of good.

As if that wasn't a big enough stake through the heart, my father had to put the final nails in my coffin.

"Edward, take Bella to my study, whilst we sort out your brother." Carlisle ordered.

If he hadn't recognised the symptoms of thirst, no one else would have, and I will forever be known as the unstable new vegetarian who tried to take a bite out of a family member. Edward grinned, his eyes still black, as he went to lift his girlfriend's crumpled body from the floor.

"No. Not Edward, anyone but Edward." Bella's voice shook in fear, as she knowingly pleaded for her life.

Carlisle nodded slowly and sent Esme for support instead, sending us a look he followed the pair upstairs.

Rose and Emmett released me as I had stopped struggling, and the supposed source of my discomfort had left the room.

Edward was infuriated, he was disappointed that his chance to drain Isabella dry was put on hold, once again, by me. The child turned his dark eyes on to me, before flying towards me, teeth bared.

My military training with the devil served of little use as I defended myself from his feeble attacks; instead of acting on instinct and ripping his head off.

"You're trying to turn her away from me...but she is MINE." Edward growled, his arms flailing about uselessly, making it an almost boring fight.

I pushed his body away from me, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough force to convey my annoyance with his actions.

"Do not push me little brother." I growled, ready to actually put some effort into the 'fight' if Edward decided that he wanted another piece.

Emmett chuckled, "You should look as if you are actually trying to defend yourself from him, rather than looking as though you are swatting a fly Jasper, otherwise you will continue to piss him off."

Alice glared at her second favourite brother as Rose snorted with laughter.

"Jasper almost killed your little sister and you are laughing. Un-fucking-believable, and here I thought you actually loved her." Alice sneered at her bear like brother.

Emmett looked crushed, the guilt rolling off of him, crashed into me; if I were human I would be having trouble breathing.

I growled, angry at my infuriating wife's take on the events, "Don't you dare Alice. Do not even think about guilt tripping Emmett, he's not even involved in this. Emmett uses humour to defuse situations he is uncomfortable with, you know this. And for the record I wasn't about to drain Isabella, as she is human she can't defend herself from the one who her blood calls, don't forget Bella is Edward's singer. Also Emmett is right for the most part, I should appear to struggle in a fight with a mind-reader as it only confirms my time spent in the south, as well as pissing off that bastard."

Edward growled, "Like we are going to believe that, you are and always will be the unstable one in this family. We cannot condone this behaviour, you are therefore banished from the family."

I stood there stunned, unable to answer, my saving grace was slipping away from me, like water through fingers. Emmett and Rose looked distraught and started to argue against the sentence but was stopped with a glare from my wife.

"Alice please..." I started, gazing at the tiny pixie-like form I fell in love with.

Alice turned her glare on to me, "No Jasper, you have brought all of us down, time and time again. It's not fair on us. I know the wars must of been hard on you but that was 100 years ago, it's no longer an excuse..."

I chuckled, "No longer an excuse, holy shit man you have no idea what it was like," I projected a fraction of what I had felt in the midst of war, not the Civil War or the Southern Vampire Wars, but the war inside myself as I went through the first year as a new-born, not knowing whether I was going to be alive in the end of the week, "This is how I felt at the beginning, but it isn't at the same intensity as I had felt it as you're body would shut down, possibly inevitably."

Alice was shaking violently, mumbling incoherently whilst rocking backwards and forwards. She looked like a little girl who had lost her parents in a shopping mall.

"You also aren't feeling the thirst, because if you did there would be no stopping you as you kill Bella and drain her in less than ten seconds, then try to kill yourself as the guilt eats you from the inside." I pointed out quickly, before retracting my influence from her.

My wife continued to shake, even after the emotions had left her.

Carlisle walked back into the room and rushed to his favourite daughter's side.

"What happened?" He rushed, staring into Alice's eyes as to ascertain the problem.

"Jasper Whitlock decided to punish her, like he used to during the war." Edward lied, knowing that any story after would not be believed.

"Is this true, I have told you before not to use your gift as a punishment?" The father figure said, radiating small amounts of disgust and fear.

I closed my eyes as I felt the Major rattle against its chains, "No," I pushed sincerity towards Carlisle, "Alice said that it was high time I got over my time in the wars, but how can she understand what happened there if she hadn't been there to witness the monstrosities we caused and the fear we felt, so I showed her just a little of what I felt when I had begun to understand but knew I wouldn't survive much longer. She felt no thirst, none of the feelings of everyone around me, she just felt what I felt, diluted by about fifty."

I saw Carlisle relax and sigh, under the power of my gift, "So how long is Alice going to be like this for?"

I frowned, "I don't know, she had led a fairly sheltered life, so she is not used to this kind of emotional torment."

I stopped the emotional outpour of trust towards Carlisle thinking that it would be ok, not expecting what happened next.

"Stop fucking around with my emotions Jasper, please, how am I supposed to know if you're telling the truth?"

They still didn't trust me with my sincere explanation. They still didn't trust me with everything I had done for this coven. It's all golden child's fault, if he hadn't been so weak, this wouldn't have happened.

Obviously Edward read my thoughts on the matter and became infuriated. He charged towards me. I sent a wave of pain in his direction and Fuckward crumpled to the floor.

"Jasper leave your brother alone!" My father yelled, still blatantly unaware of how close he came to losing his daughter because of his favourite child's behaviour.

I closed my eyes and tried to centre my body and fix the Major's broken cage. My eyes soon returned to their normal golden hue and I reopened them to glare at my family.

"I am not the one you should be worrying about here, I have no urge to lick up the spilt blood on the floor, unlike most of you. Edward however is trying so hard to convince us all that he is not bothered about the smell of his singer's blood filtering through the room, when in fact the sheer magnitude of his thirst reminds me of when I was a new born, and is enough to make even you Carlisle want to slaughter a town. I haven't slipped for the entire time I have lived here yet you still do not trust me." I raged, angry that the blame was once again placed on me.

Edward scoffed. Carlisle raised his eyebrow in defiance, he may be older than me in Vampire years but he knows nothing of blood and the lust associated with it.

"I would like to see you try and break my resistance to human blood." He taunted, for once acting like the age he was when he was turned.

I smiled then released the emotions I knew well from my extended new born stage. I only kept the current flowing for ten seconds or less, but the effect was instantaneous.

Our father figure was crouched down on the floor, his finger nails tearing through the floor as he fought against his demon. His eyes were darker than cave darkness as he stalked over to where Bella had crashed through the table.

I released him from my influence before he could get close enough to the blood.

"Get out of my house." Carlisle whispered, visibly pale and scared of my gift.

Edward's emotions swiftly morphed from smug happiness to clear elation.

I growled, "Remember who you are throwing out on to the street, little boy. I could decimate your entire coven, yes I said coven not family, without blinking. And yet you are ready to disown me for something I did not do."

Fear radiated off of the Cullen's, washing over me, awaking the demon inside me for the first time since deciding to stay with the Cullen's.

"You exaggerate." Edward stated confidently.

I smirked, remembering his gift and downfall, "You rely on your gift too much. It is easy to lie and keep information hidden from you and you don't even notice. I hate my past, but it is a part of me. A part of me that I try to hide and keep private, because the horrors I have performed to humans and vampires alike are ones I'd like to forget. But if you think I'm exaggerating please do search my mind for it."

Edward's face fell as he read my mind.

_I reached the door and waited to be acknowledged._

_"Enter my Major." I heard through the closed door._

_I shuddered, to be called 'her's' used to be pleasurable, but now, it sends shivers down my spine and makes me want to run so far away. Pushing the wooden obstacle out of my way, I slowly followed her order._

_Maria was stood in the centre of the room, a heartbeat could be heard emanating from behind her._

_"Mi amor, why did you let your second leave?" She whispered seductively, running her hand down my bare chest._

_I stared straight into her eyes without shuddering, "I do not know."_

_Her calm exterior shattered, she growled angrily, "Because of your idiocy I have lost a commander. You must be punished."_

_Maria pulled a child out from behind her. She was barely fourteen. I shook my head in fright, if I had kept a little bit of humanity in my change, it was that I would never, under any circumstances, kill an infant._

_"NO. You cannot make me," I screamed, "I will do anything, but not that please."_

_The devil chuckled, "Actually I think you will."_

_Maria slit her throat slowly, not making it deep enough to kill her but deep enough for the smell of her sweet blood to penetrate the room._

_I stopped breathing, for once hyper aware of the only window. I rushed to it ready to push my fist through it, to create some circulation of air, to filter out the smell of an innocent's blood. Maria met me halfway and shoved me to the floor and straddled my waist in an attempt to get me away from the only new air source._

_I struggled beneath her trying to escape but she had focused on an emotion and pushed it towards me. The force of her lust cleared my mind of all conscious thought and I could only see her body and feel her arousal. I took a deep breath by accident, as the devil woman rocked back and forth across my tented trousers, brushing against my cock._

_The lust for sex that had previously plagued my mind disappeared only to be replaced with the destructive desire for blood. I growled in thanks when my feeder released me and advanced on the blood source, I attached my mouth to her neck and sucked the sweet elixir of life from her tiny body. Shortly after I had drained the child, I could hear laughter in the back of my mind, when the red haze of blood lust cleared I noticed the laughter was coming from Maria. I looked back at my kill and wretched._

_I had gone against the only humanity I had. I clutched the child's broken body to mine and sobbed for the destruction of mankind._

_Maria continued to giggle as she watched me break, for the first time since I had been dragged here screaming in the middle of my change._

_"Do you want to know the best part?" She laughed in a childlike manner, "That girl you just drank from was actually your niece, you see, your parents were expecting when you left for the Civil War and you had a sister, when we went to your home we found your parents, Karl enjoyed your mother and sister, he loved how they felt warm, wrapped around him. I much preferred your father, he was well endowed not like your brother-in-law, but who's to complain, they all tasted divine."_

_The pain and self-loathing I then felt was nothing like I'd ever felt before, but it was nothing like the need for retribution. The pain overwhelmed me and I soon found myself amongst the army of new-borns, fighting them, slaughtering them, doing everything in my power to get back at the bitch who had destroyed my family for her own personal gain._

_When the rage lessened I found myself surrounded by a mountain of bodies, all dead, all burning. Except for Maria and her guard, Karl. I knew I couldn't get close to them whilst Karl's gift worked on me so I returned to my methodic zombie-like state and waited till I could escape from my self-imposed hell._

Edward shuddered, "You monster."

I said nothing in reply as I knew it to be true. I turned to leave but stopped, I released a shot of calm towards Alice, who soon relaxed and stopped shaking.

"Thank you Jazzy." Rose stated, upon seeing her sister return to normal.

Emmett pushed his gratitude towards me and I nodded in acknowledgment.

I flipped open my wallet and took out all the Cullen credit cards, ID cards and driving licenses, anything with Cullen or Hale found itself in a pile on the floor by my feet.

I ran to mine and Alice's room and pulled out a secret compartment in the floor. Inside the cavity was my Civil War uniform, ID papers for the name Jasper Whitlock, a pair of dusty blue stone washed jeans and a black leather Stetson; things that according to Alice were junk and had to be thrown away. I retrieved a green canvas bag, that was often used in the army, from my slither of the walk-in wardrobe and packed in as many button-up shirts and jeans I could find, as well as all of my possessions from the hole in the floor. After changing into me approved attire, I placed my hat upon my head, slung the bag across my back and crept across the corridor to where Bella was staying. I poked my head around the door to find her sitting by the window.

"Hi Jasper." She said cheerfully.

"Hello darlin', how are you feeling?"

"Shouldn't you know that already," Isabella joked, "You look good like that, more relaxed, more you."

"Thank you darlin'" I replied, surprised that someone liked the way I looked, when Alice was always telling me how tatty I looked when wearing this stuff.

I looked around for a piece of paper and pen, when I found some I quickly scrawled a note to Bella and put my finger to my lips as I passed it to her.

"Bye Bella. I am off, they have kicked me out of the family."

Her lip wobbled as her emotions took a dive. Jumping out of the chair she was sat in, without falling over, she propelled herself into my arms, surprising me.

"Don't go Jazzy, it wasn't your fault. Please don't leave me with them." Bella shivered.

Saddened by the fear in her voice, I whispered, "I'll come back for you darlin', don't you worry."

The door crashed open and twisted myself round so that I could defend Isabella.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BELLA." Edward screamed, running towards me, ready to pull her from behind me.

His emotions were erratic, swiftly switching between possessiveness, thirst, rage, need and fear. They reminded me of new-born's emotion and that alone filled me with fear.

I turned back round, "Do you trust me?" I asked Bella quickly.

She nodded in the affirmative. Edward was right behind me, I kicked backwards sending him flying towards the opposite side of the room. I clutched her to my chest, making sure not to jostle her bandaged arm, before jumping through the window backwards, so that the glass didn't cut her.

I landed quickly, softening the impact considerably and placed the fearful girl at the tree line, before turning and grasping Edward's flailing arms in mine. He growled staring at Bella, venom pouring from the corner of his mouth.

"No Edward, I won't let you drink from Bella." I roared, fighting against two sides of myself, one side didn't want to hurt my brother, but the bigger, most dominant part of me didn't want Bella to be hurt.

The Cullen's ran out of their home upon hearing the ruckus.

"Let go of Edward!" Alice yelled, fearing for his life.

"Ok fine. Bella do you still trust me?" I asked slowly.

She once again nodded and rose to her feet. I shot her with a dose of adrenaline before releasing my brother. He took off like a bat out of hell, Bella's blood being the only thing in his sight. She screamed a little, before running hard. The adrenaline made it easier for her to run but Edward was blessed with speed as well as being a vampire. Edward continued to growl as he stalked his prey, this lasted a matter of seconds before Edward had caught up with Bella. He placed his mouth over the pulse point in her neck, Bella was quivering in fear but yet staying strong, determination and trust filled her emotions as she looked at me. Edward made to bite her when I rushed over to catch Bella, as I pushed inconsolable fear towards him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you.." Bella muttered as she clutched my shirt tightly in her good hand.

"That's alright darlin' I'll protect you."

Edward uttered a growl that turned into a whine of pain.

"Oi fucker," I released some of the fear to make him coherent, "Stay away from Bella or I will kill you."

Esme gasped, but I paid no attention.

"I am taking Bella home now, you are to ask her permission before seeing her. You have betrayed her trust. Keep Edward away from her, if you want him to stay alive. I am leaving Emmett and Rose in charge of that, they are the ones I trust the most. I will be watching." I stated, the Major was leaking through his confinements.

With that said, I made my way to the garage and chucked my motorbike in the back of my green k-reg Range Rover, putting all the back seats down so that it fitted., knowing I wouldn't be back anytime soon.

I slipped into the driver's seat and made to retract Bella's fingers from my shirt so that she could sit comfortably in her own seat, but she whimpered like a beaten puppy when I attempted to do so. So instead I wrapped the belt around the both of us, just in case, and chucked my bag into her seat, before charging out of the Cullen's land.

When we arrived at Charlie's house, I gently pulled Bella out of the car with me, cradling her to my chest as I slung my bag over my shoulder. The walk towards the door was taxing, I could feel Chief Swan's worry and loneliness, and I did not want to put any more stress on this kind-hearted man, but I had to.

I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. The shock and fear that crossed his face made me step back a little.

"Chief, I have brought Isabella home and I need to talk to you." I stated quietly, looking towards the floor for a second, before looking straight into his eyes.

He stepped back for me to pass. Nodding in thanks, I walked into the living room and tried to lay Bella on the sofa, but she wouldn't give up her grip on my shirt.

"Hey Darlin', you're home now, you're safe. You know I will not let Edward anywhere near you, so relax, your dad is worrying about you, Sugar. Let go of my shirt so that you don't hurt yourself, I'm not going anywhere," I muttered gently, letting some of my southern drawl to leak through, loud enough for the Chief to hear, "Come on Darlin' where's the strong girl who ran from Edward?"

After a few seconds, Bella had let go of my shirt and had given me a small smile.

"That's my girl." I said, smiling at her, brushing the tips of my fingers down her cheek.

Charlie cleared his throat behind me, "What do you mean you won't let Edward near her, he is her boyfriend?"

I flinched at the accusation in his voice, before answering slowly, "Edward isn't stable right now, something happened, I don't know what but it's not safe for her to be around him. Today, he hurt her and almost killed her. She has a bandage on her arm over where Edward pushed her into a table full of glass, Carlisle fixed that up so there is no glass in the wound and it has stitches. But when we were just about to leave Edward saw us and didn't want us to leave together so he went after Bella with a knife. He is the fastest runner in my family by far, so Bella stood no chance, but she's lucky I was standing next to her because I managed to disarm him and get him under control before passing him off on to the family so that we could escape. The problem is that they blamed me for his change, since I'm technically the newest to the family, so I can't go back there and now that I'm not there, they will assume he is fine and back to normal, so he will be free to come here when he likes."

Charlie growled, "So am I going to have to arrest him?"

If I had been human, I would have blanched, "No Chief you can't, he will kill you if you try, trust me please, do not under any circumstances get in the way of him. He tried to kill me but he forgets that I'm better at fighting than he is."

"So let's get this right, I can't get a swat team to arrest him because he will kill them all but if you fight him you would win. How do you have more fight power than the police force?"

I looked towards Bella for help and she just shook her head at me, radiating humour. I rolled my eyes at her before turning back to answer his question.

"Yes that is correct. I was trained in two types of military in America. But the second one was experimental; it gave me strength, speed and better senses."

"I think the insane one might be you," Charlie stated, "Do you believe this rubbish, Bella?"

Bella nodded, "Yup, I have seen it Dad."

"I don't believe you."

I frowned, trying to figure out a way to show him the truth without telling him the real truth.

"Ok, I propose a hand wrestle." I exclaimed.

Bella snorted with laughter.

"Not helping darlin'." I winked.

"Don't hurt him will you?" Bella asked quietly.

"I won't." Chief answered.

Bella giggled, "I wasn't talking to you, Dad."

I snickered. Charlie grumbled but accepted my challenge. He kneeled on the floor and put his elbow on the coffee table. I placed my hand in his and waited for him to start. From the redness of Chief's face, I gathered he had.

"What the hell, you haven't even moved a single degree." He stated surprised.

I released his hand and sat back against the sofa.

"I told you I am stronger than your police force."

Charlie grunted in acceptance, "How old are you anyway?"

I sighed, knowing that my Cullen age won't be accepted by the Chief, yet the truth would scare him, "I am twenty-one."

I settled with my human age instead.

"I thought Carlisle said you were nineteen."

"No that is Jasper Hale's age, I am actually called Jasper Whitlock. Years ago I witnessed a series of murders, by my kidnappers. I was put with the Cullen's for protection, once I had escaped, my brother and his girlfriend had managed to escape before me, which I'm glad about because Charlotte was close to death when they escaped. We were tortured whilst we were under Maria's roof. Which is another reason I cannot go back home, because Alice told me that I should have gotten over it by now."

"Bloody hell, Bella did you know this? What do you mean tortured? This isn't something you ever get over." Charlie whispered, sorrow filling his voice.

"No I didn't know this, I knew there was a story but I didn't know this." Bella stated, tears falling down her face.

I sighed knowing I shouldn't have told them that, but I took my shirt off and stood under the light. Thinking back to a time where I didn't these crescent moon's covering my body.

"Jesus, are they bite marks?" Charlie murmured rhetorically.

I stared into Bella's eyes as I answered, "Yeah, but the doctors don't know what caused them."

She rubbed the scar James left on her wrist.

Charlie looked thoughtful for a second before saying, "What else did they do to you?"

I froze in fear, I had forgotten how perceptive the Swan's were.

"They killed...my family," I swallowed unnecessarily, only slightly aware of the doorbell ringing, "And they made me...kill...someone."

I was shaking so much I had collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

Arms wrapped around my body.

"Fuck Major. It's ok, she's never going to get you again." A male voice murmured gently.

I breathed in deeply, steadying my emotions before I sent them to everyone by accident.

"Help me up Peter." I croaked.

Once I was standing a tiny body rushed towards me and I was engulfed in warmth. I could feel the sobs wracking through her body and I ran my fingers through her hair in a calming gesture.

"Bella and Chief Swan, I'd like you to meet my brother, Peter and his wife, Charlotte. They saved my life, once Charlotte was fully healed, they came back to find me and helped me escape." I stated proudly.

"Thank you for saving him." Bella murmured into my chest.

Peter grinned, "It's no problem, Sweets."

Charlotte smiled shyly, "Sorry for intruding on your home, Chief Swan."

"Please call me, Charlie. It's no problem at all. A friend of Jasper's is a friend of mine."

Bella raised her eyebrow at her father.

"What? He saved your life, I trust him."

I was stunned, "Wow thanks Chi...Charlie."

"Charlie, would you mind if I talked with my brother alone for a second?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Yeah, sure. Um, Bells we should go in the kitchen, make dinner?" He answered slowly, understanding this was a serious talk.

I had no idea what this was about, as Bella and her father vacated the room, I tried to figure out what the interrogation was about.

"Charlotte, this includes you, I think, so I'd like you to stay. Why didn't you tell us Maria killed your family?" Peter stated, his expression fierce.

I couldn't lie to them, as much as I wanted to, so I told them the truth, "Because if I had you would have blamed yourself." I whispered, almost too quiet for us vampires to hear.

"What do you mean we'd blame ourselves?" Charlotte murmured, emotions turning to grief.

I looked at my sister and all I could feel was pain, pain for putting my family through this, decades after it happened, pain for remembering everything over again. And then the pain escaped, filtering through my mind and leaking out, bleeding into the room and I didn't even notice, until my sister hit the floor.

Peter groaned, holding his stomach, "Jasper...Pull it back...You're killing us...Major!"

The shock of my brother yelling my demon name at me, made the emotion's snap back.

I gasped, "I am sorry. I am so so sorry. Sorry..."

Bella rushed through the door and grabbed my hand, "What's wrong with Jasper, I could feel that from next door?"

"...I am sorry..." I rocked backwards and forwards, reliving the moment where the Major killed my niece.

Charlotte reached out and placed her hand on my knee as Peter slipped on to the sofa beside me.

"Who did you kill, you obviously loved them, who did you kill?" Peter said softly, placing his hand on my cheek.

"...I'm sorry, it wasn't my fault...I'm sorry..."

Bella straddled my waist and put her forehead next to mine, "Who'd you kill, we love you Jasper but we need to know?"

I stared into her eyes, "...niece..." I croaked.

She swallowed hard, closing her eyes as they started to water, "Who's Niece?"

"Mine," I closed my eyes, as I felt the rage building in Peter next to me, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault..." Charlotte started.

"I'm gunna fucking kill that fucking bitch." Peter snarled, his red eyes turning black.

Charlie appeared in the doorway, "What the hell is going on?" He exclaimed as he watched Peter pacing by the coffee table, emitting a loud growl.

"Peter...Peter..." I said getting no answer, "Captain. Stand down!"

He shuddered at my tone but his eyes returned to normal and he nodded his thanks.

"Why did you say we'd blame ourselves?" Charlotte asked fearfully.

"Because it was punishment for letting you escape." I whispered, looking at the floor.

Peter was the first to recover from the shock, "Why didn't you tell us? Did you not trust us enough?..."

I stopped listening as the amount of disappointment and pain crashing from my brother overwhelmed me and forced it's way through my defences.

"Peter, please stop." I said breathlessly.

"No Jasper. We trusted you and you kept that away from us. You told us that Maria didn't torture you because of us leaving..." He continued, all his pain being concentrated at one being, Me.

And I ran. Ignoring the calls after me, I ran away from the only loving family I ever had in the Vampiric world.


	2. The Protector

**Family of Killers**

**Chapter 2 - The Protector**

**BELLA'S POV**

One second he was there, listening to all the crap Peter was spouting, the next Jasper was gone, leaving me feeling strangely empty and seriously pissed off.

"What the fuck was that Peter?" I yelled, "Your brother, in all ways but blood, just told you that because of a syco bitch, he got forced to kill his own Niece because he let you escape from hell. And what do you do, instead of comforting him, you have a go, you basically called him selfish for not telling you when he was trying to do you a favour. If you call yourself a brother, you will help me find him and bring him back. You will not be talking to him, unless you are going to apologise."

I stormed out of the room, ignoring the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Fuck me, the Major has competition." Peter breathed, before having his arse kicked by Charlie for not doing as he was told.

I didn't have to walk far to find Jasper, he was sat under a tree in the woods, visible from the house, with his hat tilted, covering his face. I walked slowly towards him, dragging his idiotic brother behind me.

Jasper began growling, the closer we got, the louder he became.

"Peter, stop where you are." He snarled.

He stopped behind me with his head tilted looking at the floor and his hands up by his head in surrender. Peter pushed me forwards, nodding that it was fine to go to Jasper. I stepped forwards slowly, but soon received a burst of confidence and soon found myself standing next to him.

"It's not your fault you know." I said softly, knowing Jasper would hear me.

I sat beside him, in the dirt, chuckling to myself when I realised Alice would kill me for ruining her dress. I grasped his hand when he didn't acknowledge my presence and pushed my trust and acceptance towards him.

He sighed and pulled me into his lap, resting his head in the crook in my neck.

"I am sorry Jasper. I shouldn't have said any of that, you know I didn't mean it. I understand why you didn't tell us and I respect you for that. I love you man and I am so sorry." Peter said sincerely.

He went to leave not expecting Jasper to say anything.

"Most things said in a fit of rage have some truth in them, so you still meant it. I love you too, so you have to trust me. I trust you and I tell you everything, but I couldn't tell anyone that. Why? Because I am still disgusted with myself for that and it's been over fifty years. I still hate me, even if I am a different person now." Jasper replied, still not moving from his position.

"I'm just going to ignore that first bit. I do trust you Jasper, if I didn't I wouldn't leave Charlotte in a room with you as I know the Major better than she does. But that's not you anymore. You had to do it. If you had left her with Maria, she would have had to endure the same torture as you. She would have been kept alive and bitten, every now and then, just to hear her scream and there would have been nothing you could have done about it. We will always be there for you Jasper, you saved my life twice, I owe you for that, so you'll be seeing me around a lot." Peter winked before turning round and walking back towards the house.

Jasper had frozen beneath me at the mention of his Niece in the hands of Maria, "That wasn't everything, you interrupted me before I told you the rest. Maria and Kyle raped and killed my mother; my father; my little sister, who was born after I died; and her husband; all because of me. Because they had the misfortune of being related to me. Maria and her guard went there after I helped you escape, not because of you, but because she wanted to reaffirm her position over me. She wanted to put the shackles back on her lap dog and the only way she could do that, was by breaking my spirit and destroying what was left of my humanity. She didn't succeed as she had hoped because I slaughtered her entire army. I put them out of their misery."

Jasper curled into himself a little more, shifting me a little so that I was still comfortable. I began running my fingers through his caramel blond curls as tears ran down my cheeks.

"It's not your fault Jasper. Stop blaming yourself. All blame is squarely placed on that bitch Maria. Her actions were never your fault, and you did what you did to survive, stop killing yourself about it." I choked out, placing a hand on the side of his face.

"Sweets is right you know. No one blames you for it." Peter agreed before walking back to the house to give us some privacy as I attempted to sort Jasper out.

"Thank you Darlin'." Jasper whispered as he kissed away my tears.

The feeling I got when he called me 'darlin'' was strange. Like tiny little butterflies in my stomach that made me feel warm. I continued to run my hand through his hair as I contemplated my feelings for Jasper.

A soft purr startled me out of my internal debate. Jasper's eyes were closed in contentment and the purr rumbled through his chest. He looked so peaceful, so relaxed for once. I placed a kiss where his chin met his neck, before returning to my initial position, somewhat mortified by my forwardness.

My boyfriend had just tried to kill me and I was lusting over another woman's man, what the hell was wrong with me?

Jasper stiffened slightly, before relaxing once again. He chuckled lightly making me flush.

"Why so embarrassed?" He asked, smirking.

Which of course made me blush more.

Humor and something else, unidentifiable, washed over me before it was pulled back.

Jasper kissed me on the cheek before standing us both up and pulling me back towards the house.

I was slightly disapointed that he didn't kiss me properly, but I smothered those emotions when Jasper looked at me with his eyebrow raised. I shrugged at his question and continued through my front door.

Charlie was sat in the kitchen holding a bottle of chilled beer in his hand, watching the specticle in the living room. Charlotte had her mate in a headlock, berating him for his lack of sensitivity. Peter was trying to escape the clutches of the woman he married but he couldn't.

"Aw I taught you well." Jasper said as he walked over to where they were fighting and kissed her on the forehead.

Jealousy flared inside my heart but I ignored it as I began cooking for us humans.

"How could they kick him out like that?" Charlie grumbled, "How can they call themselves parents?"

"I don't know. I think they are scared of him, of his power, they don't trust him. Edward and Alice are the golden children, Esme and Carlisle listen to them, so if a contradicting but true story comes to light they won't believe the speaker. Like today, they wouldn't believe Jasper when he said that Edward attacked me because in their eyes Jasper is the one who's more likely to do so and both Edward and Alice said otherwise." I frowned, realising that they must have been playing with me the whole time.

I turned my attention back to the curry I was making.

"Are you ok Bella?" He said quietly.

I shuddered as I repressed the agony in my heart.

"I'm fine dad. Bit shakey but I'm glad Jasper was there." A forced smile graced my face.

Arms engulfed me and I relaxed into them.

"It's ok honey, we will all protect you from him." Charlie said in a rare display of emotion.

Jasper appeared in the doorway, "I will kill him before he hurts you again Darlin', I give you my word."

His eyes smouldered with power and passion that made my knees weak.

He's never been more hot than when he's plotting the death of my psychotic boyfriend. Damn his empathy.

"Would you like to be taught how to fight?" He asked grinning.

My dad clapped a hand on Jasper's shoulder, "It may not help with Edward, but at least you'd be able to defend yourself from other unsavoury characters."

My overprotective arse of a boyfriend would have never suggested the idea, probably worried that I might waste my precious blood.

I knodded my answer, a small smile finding its way on to my face.


End file.
